David Micklem On ... His Twin Peaks WeekenderDate: 1 September 2010
On Saturday 23 October 2010 the BAC will open its doors for a Lynch lock-in to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first British screening of Channel 4's Twin Peaks, David Lynch’s classic mini-series. Playing each episode in an epic 36 hour marathon, the Twin Peaks Weekender will be a one off chance to plunge head first into the seedy and surreal layers beneath this infamous white picket fence town.
Alongside the episodes being shown in the great hall (in sequences of 3 with breaks in between) there will be a mixture of theatrical, musical and workshop responses to the unsettling world and characters of Twin Peaks.
"We’ve got state of the art sound equipment so it’s going to be a fantastic surround sound experience that’s going to pull you into that world. It will be interesting to see how people will respond after about four hours in; will their heads be blown open? Or will they be wanting to take a break and then come back in? It’s kind of a social experiment."
Co-Artistic Director of the BAC and self-confessed Twin Peaks obsessive, David Micklem is clearly passionate about an event which is somewhat a labour of love."Twin Peaks taught me to look differently at the ordinary, to be comfortable with things that don’t quite make sense, to relish a fragmented narrative...yes it was only a TV show. But in many ways Twin Peaks changed my life."
It’s an influence he has recognised in others "...There’s a whole bunch of individuals who literally can’t get that incredible world out of their heads...from people like Tim Etchells to Emma Rice they are all huge fans who acknowledge the fact that his work has played such a huge role in forming their practice in how they make theatre."
It was this amount of potential collaborators, along with the inherently theatrical traits in Lynch’s work, that solidified Micklem’s idea to mark this anniversary with more than just a screening of the whole mini-series.
It’s not only for those who experienced it first time round however. In fact, in keeping with the BAC’s collaborations with young emerging artists, he main driver for Micklem is a desire to switch on a new generation of both audience members and practitioners to this seminal piece of work.
With dressing up positively encouraged (with a professional photographer to re-create iconic images from the show), and workshops in transcendental meditation ("Lynch is a great exponent of meditation...so we want to give an insight into the world of alternative creativity that Lynch uses") this won’t just be a series of high art installations. The whole thing has a refreshingly earnest Sing-along-a-Sound Of Music feel to it. Except instead of squeaky clean Julie Andrews, here you could bump into anyone from the deceased Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic, to eccentric and sometimes downright unsettling personalities like Dale Cooper and Killer Bob.
With only 400 tickets it looks like it’s going to sell out quickly "We’re hoping with this weekend to attract people who are interested in electronic music, getting dressed up and clubbing, as well as performance." It seems to be working as Micklem chuckles excitedly "We’ve had people emailing to say ‘Is this definitely on?! Because I’m booking my flight from Spain!’’
Tickets for the Twin Peaks Weekender are on sale now from the BAC Website.
- Honour Bayes
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